Midnight Fireworks
by Vampite
Summary: Hermione has made a surprise visit to the Burrow over the holidays, which means Fred Weasley's holiday plans just became a lot more important. Takes place as if OotP Christmas took place at the Burrow.


The Burrow was bustling with noise as it always was during the holiday season. All of the Weasley children were home this Christmas, which of course included Harry as well. Christmas had been a few days ago, and the Weasleys were mostly trying to enjoy the last of their Christmas break before heading back to Hogwarts for the new term. It was lightly snowing on a late December evening when there was a knock at the door.

Molly Weasley turned to look at the clock, sure that all of her boys were already home for the evening. Sure enough, all the hands showing the names of the Weasleys were firmly pointed at "Home". She bustled to the door, and upon opening it grinned widely. "Hermione! What a surprise!"

Hermione Granger stepped in to the Burrow, bushy hair covered with a light dusting of snow from the outdoors. Harry and Ron jumped up from their game of wizard's chess at the kitchen table, and both came to hug her.

"I thought we wouldn't see you until we were back at school!" Harry said.

"I didn't either, but it turned out skiing wasn't much the thing for me so I decided to cut my holiday with my parents a bit short so I could come see all of you," Hermione said as Mrs Weasley thrust a cup of tea into her hands.

"We're always thrilled to have you here dear," Mrs Weasley said with a smile. "You're always welcome to our spare bed."

"Hermione!" Ginny smiled as she walked into the kitchen. "It's nice to see you!"

Hermione went over to hug the ginger girl, as Ron and Harry took their seats back at the kitchen table. It was clear that her yell had alerted the rest of the Weasleys to her presence, as the rest of them leaned over the banister looking down into the kitchen.

"Oh, hi Hermione!" Fred said, beaming as he leaned so far over the railing that George had to grab the back of his sweater. Hermione smiled back and waved quietly before sitting down at the kitchen table to drink her tea.

George looked at his twin, rolling his eyes. "A Christmas miracle, isn't it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fred said, looking away. George rolled his eyes again.

"Don't try to pull anything funny, that's all I'll say," George said, walking back into their bedroom. "We have bigger things to worry about."

Fred stayed silent, walking back into the twins room. His New Years Eve plans had just become a lot more important.

New Years Eve quickly approached, and as the day grew near George began to notice Fred's strange behaviour. The morning of, he confronted his twin.

"Seventeen years of telling each other everything and this is when you've decided to stop," George started, stirring a cauldron of their latest potion for their prank products. "I don't understand why you won't tell me what you've been up to. I know it has something to do with—"

"For the last time, I don't know what you're talking about," Fred snapped, knocking over a beaker of red liquid that quickly began to bubble as it touched the wood of his desk. He frantically reached for his wand and cleaned the liquid up quickly.

"Yes, you do." George turned around in his chair to face Fred. "Fess up. You've been acting weird ever since Hermione got here. I thought you said you were over—"

"Well maybe I'm not, okay?" Fred said, avoiding eye contact.

"And why can't you tell me?" George replied. "I know you're planning something, you can't hide that. Is it for tonight, during the party?"

"It is."

"When has a Fred plan ever been better than a Fred AND George plan?" George said, exasperated. "If you're trying to pull something off at a party in front of everyone it better be good. And you know Hermione loves to pretend to not be impressed by our inventions, so I don't think any of those are going to help you in this-"

"Fine, you can help me, " Fred conceded. "I just want a moment alone with her but I know she would never trust me if I just asked—"

"Yeah you're right about that one."

"—and you're right that she pretends not to be impressed but we both know she is—"

"Maybe you do have some brains left after all."

"—So I think if I just show her a bit of showy magic, I might get my moment alone with her to make this day truly memorable, yknow," Fred finally finished.

"You really think she's the type to go for showy?" George asked, skeptically.

"I do, I just don't think she's willing to admit it," Fred said, starting to smirk.

"So, what are you going to do, and how can I help?"

The Burrow was even more full than usual New Years Eve. Several Order members had stopped by, and Mrs Weasley had gone all out decorating the house. Hermione was wearing a dark blue dress, and walked down the stairs beside Harry wearing his dress robes.

"What's the point in us dressing up, it's not like these people haven't seen me before," Harry scoffed as he fiddled with his cufflink.

"It's fun, Harry," Hermione said, swishing the skirt of her dress. "We deserve some fun in these dark times."

Harry scoffed again as the two entered the living room of the Burrow. Ron walked up to them, holding glasses of a red liquid with a fine mist hovering over it.

"Sirius sent Firewhisky," Ron said, giving a glass to Harry. The boys sipped the liquid carefully, while Hermione rolled her eyes.

The trio split off into the party, socializing with the many visitors to the Weasley house. Hermione excitedly talked to Remus Lupin about her OWL studying schedule, while Ron and Harry listened intently while Charlie told a story about a particularly stubborn dragon he had recently worked with. After seemingly no time at all, Mrs Weasley called out "One minute until midnight!"

Hermione looked around. She had never been to a wizarding New Years Eve party before, and had no idea if they did any of the traditions that muggles did. She felt a slight sense of relief when she noticed that no one seemed to be moving closer to each other for a midnight kiss. The wizarding radio in the background had started a countdown, and soon the entire room was joining in.

"5… 4… 3… 2…"

Right before reaching one, the room lit up with sparks as small fireworks began flying around and somersaulting through the air. Red sparks flew everywhere, fizzling to nothing when they hit the floor and furniture. But, the smoke given off by the fireworks didn't disappear so easily, and the room very quickly became hazy. As Hermione looked around, she felt a hand softly touch her waist. Before she could turn to see what was going on, she felt soft lips touching her own. She gasped as the other figure moved away, and looked around hurriedly to try and see who it had been. But the smoke was too thick, and she could only see their general shape moving away from her.

"FRED, GEORGE," Mrs Weasley's screams split through the room like a knife. "How DARE you…"

Hermione quickly backed up toward the stair case, and as soon as she felt the step with her back foot she darted up the stairs back to her room. She sat on the bed, deciding to wait for Mrs Weasley to finish yelling at the boys, and for someone to get rid of the smoke. After a few minutes staring out the window at the calm English countryside and thinking about who would have the audacity to kiss her like they did, she decided it was probably safe to reenter the party.

The party had already regained life, and there was a crowd huddled around Fred and George.

"Yeah, we haven't been able to figure out how to get rid of the smoke," George was saying to the onlookers, "but we were more concerned with making sure they wouldn't set anything on fire first. We call them Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bangs."

Hermione looked over at the two boys. She had to admit, it was an impressive bit of magic, although a bit too showy for her tastes. The twins looked back over at her – George gave her a smile and a wink, but Fred looked away quickly, blushing slightly. Hermione froze. Could it have been Fred who kissed her at midnight?

"Those gits," Ron said as he came up from behind Hermione. "They can't handle not being the life of the party. Mum even let them off easy – I think she was impressed by the magic."

"Well, it was certainly an eventful way to start the year," Hermione said, her head still thinking about Fred's strange reaction. Why would he ever want to kiss her? She felt the urge to leave the party and go back to her room, even though she had just come back downstairs. She looked over at Fred again. He was oddly silent, as his brother continued to brag about their fireworks to anyone who would listen. Something was obviously on his mind. And she had a feeling she already knew what it was.


End file.
